Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, a day before a planned maintenance cut, that nothing stands in the way of gas exports to Europe via Russia’s Nord Stream 1 pipeline, except technological problems caused by Western sanctions.
Russian energy giant Gazprom has announced that it will shut down the pipeline for three days from Wednesday to maintain a single pump unit at the Portovaya compression station.
Peskov was asked if there were any guarantees that Gazprom would resume gas flow through Nord Stream 1 after the maintenance.
“In addition to the technological problems caused by the sanctions, there are guarantees that nothing is blocking supply,” he replied.
Gas prices in Europe soared to all-time highs due to tight supplies from Russia. Due to equipment problems, it is pumping gas through Nord Stream 1 at only 20% capacity.
The European Union rejects Moscow’s version that turbine problems and sanctions are responsible.
France accused Moscow on Tuesday of using energy resources as a “weapon of war” after Gazprom cuts deliveries to one of its main services, Engie, and prepares to shut down flow from Nord Stream.
source: Noticias
